› added 6 months ago

21

TIL the concept of "checkmate" originates from the Persian phrase "Shāh Māt," meaning "the king is helpless" or "the king is defeated."

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

5ag9 TIL that the accent commonly found in 30’s and 40’s films was a made-up mix between American and British English, known as Mid-Atlantic English.
OoaV6 TIL that despite having a population of 220 million, Pakistan hasn't won any Olympic medal since 1992.
yQo8 TIL that Kelsey Grammars Dad was shot and killed, his sister raped and murdered, and his twins brothers killed in a “diving accident” (Eaten by sharks)
yXbp TIL that poison dart frogs raised in captivity are completely nontoxic. This is because they do not manufacture their own toxins. Instead, they simply concentrate toxins found in the insects they eat. When fed nontoxic insects, they cannot obtain the toxins, rendering them completely harmless.
DQQeP TIL: that in Hawaii some wallaby escaped the zoo in 1916 and a population of feral wallaby continue living on Oahu even today.